An animation professional known for her desire to give forward to pros and fans alike, Shannon has expanded her reach to writing prose, and showcasing those authors as well. Read interviews and guest posts from INFINITE HOUSE OF BOOKS, plus Shannon's own content.

Tuesdays, ANIMATED INSIGHTS BY SHANNON MUIR takes you inside Shannon’s latest reflections on writing, animation, and life in general. To catch up on all posts, check out the Animated Insights portion of the website! This installment shares her thoughts on seeing animated movies re-released on the big screen.

Recently, I got a chance to see an animated film I’d not watched during its initial run re-released on the big screen. I found the experience to be rather surreal, largely because the animation clearly showed its age, and by this I don’t mean the print quality. Rather, I’m referring to the style of storytelling and tropes of the period. That said, I still found it a fairly enjoyable watch.

Harder to deal with was the wide variety of crowd it attracted. Some were my age, while most were in their young twenties and clearly into this style of animation being “hip, cool, trendy”. One father brought his two young children. Quite an eclectic mix. However, I don’t think that we even filled half of the theater.

I hope such opportunities will continue to be available for people to see older films on the big screens they were originally meant to show on. Several of the younger ones I heard at the end commented seeing the film this way (versus cable or streaming where they’d seen it before) gave them new perspective. The trick is getting them to come through the door in the first place.

SHANNON MUIR began working in animation on shows like EXTREME GHOSTBUSTERS and INVADER ZIM, worked on the virtual world NEOPETS/PETPET PARK, and now has credits writing for animation and short stories.